Overview of Physician Assistant Studies Resources

What is changing on October 14, 2025?

• Access is moving to McGraw Hill’s account management system. All Access profiles will be migrated to a McGraw Hill account that will work across McGraw Hill products. First-time users sign into their Access profile with the new sign in experience; they will be guided through the process to migrate their profile.
  • If you have an Access profile, you will sign in with your email address instead of a username.
  • Depending on your current account, you may be asked to verify your email or reset your password.
  • If you have multiple Access profiles with the same email, we will combine or keep the most recent one depending on activity.

Will I need to create a new account?

• No — your existing Access profile will be migrated automatically.
  • If you already have a McGraw Hill account (for products like Boards & Beyond or First Aid Forward), Access can be linked to that account only if you are entitled to Access (for example, if your institution has an active subscription or you have redeemed a token).
  • If you are not entitled to Access, you will still have your McGraw Hill account but will not gain Access until you authenticate through your institution or redeem a token.
  • If you do not have a McGraw Hill account, one will be created for you during the migration process.

Will I have to reset my password?

• It depends:
  • If you already have a McGraw Hill account (i.e., Boards & Beyond or First Aid Forward) but no Access profile: You will simply verify your email at first sign-in — no password reset required.
  • If you only have an Access profile and no McGraw Hill account: You will complete a one-time password reset to migrate your profile.

If a book or article you want is not available, use Interlibrary Loan (ILL). The Library can order books and articles from other libraries. This process takes few days but is completely free for DelVal students, faculty, and staff.

Before you submit an ILL, check Google Scholar or Summon to see if we have immediate access or if it is freely available online.

A literature review summarizes existing research on a particular topic. Various types of literature reviews exist, differing in their scope, level of detail, time frame, and the kinds of studies they include.

Image and citations from MUSC Libraries.

Please navigate to MUSC Libraries' research guide on types of reviews to further read about each type, and to see examples.

When selecting articles for a literature review, establish clear criteria based on your research question. These are referred to as inclusion and exclusion criteria. Applying them carefully is essential, as inconsistent or unclear criteria can introduce bias into your review.

Inclusion criteria specify the characteristics that a study must possess to be considered eligible for a literature review.

For example, included studies might be required to:

• Compare specific treatments

• Employ experimental, observational, or both types of research designs

• Have been published within a defined timeframe (with a clear justification)

• Be of certain publication types

• Involve a particular population

Exclusion criteria specify the characteristics that disqualify a study from being included in a literature review.

For example, studies may be excluded if they:

• Use qualitative methods

• Employ certain study designs (e.g., observational)

• Belong to specific publication types (e.g., systematic reviews)

• Were published before a defined year (with a justified rationale)

• Involve animal models

• Are published in a language other than English

Formulating your research question is one of the most critical steps in conducting a literature review. At this stage, you and your team have identified a gap in existing knowledge and seek to address a focused question, such as:

• If X is prescribed, what effect will it have on patients? (Assessing an intervention)

• How does X influence Y? (Synthesizing existing evidence)

• What is the nature of X? (Exploring a concept or phenomenon)

Regardless of your specific aim, developing a clear, well-defined, and appropriately scoped research question is essential to the success of your review. This question will serve as the foundation for your work and guide your team in identifying two to five key search concepts, which will later form the basis of your search strategy.

Developing a research question is a gradual process, and your team may refine it through several iterations before arriving at the final version. Using a research question framework can help provide structure and focus to your systematic review.

One commonly used framework is PICO/T, which stands for:

• P – Population or Problem

• I – Intervention or Exposure

• C – Comparison

• O – Outcome

• T – Time

Each PICO/T question includes at least the P, I, and O components, with some also incorporating C or T. Below are sample PICO/T questions to illustrate how this framework can guide your research design.

Image from: https://nursingessaywriting.com/blog/what-is-picot 

This style guide is borrowed from the James Cook University Library. They have made it publicly available through Creative Commons license.

AMA Style is a variation of the Vancouver system that is used by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and other publications by the AMA.  We are currently following the 11th edition of the AMA style guide.

AMA is a documentary-note style, which means you put a number in your text to cite sources of information and the reference list is in numerical order.

In text citations are in superscript¹ and in order of citation (the first citation is 1 the next is 2).  If you use the same source again, you keep the same number (the source you used for the first citation is always 1, even if you use it again after 6).

General Notes:

• The major parts of a reference are Authors. Title of part. Title of Whole. Publication details (including copyright/publication year). Online details.  Each section is separated by a full stop.
• The authors follow the pattern of Surname Initials (e.g. Brown JA) and are separated by a comma.
  • If there are more than six authors, only list the first three names, then shorten with et al. (e.g. Smith AA, Jones BA, Bloggs JC, et al.)
• The title of the part (journal article, book chapter or web object) is always in sentence case and not in italics.
• The title of the whole (book or journal) is usually in Title Case and in italics - except for web sites and unpublished material.
• The publication details change for the type of source you are citing (journal article, book chapter, etc).  See the full details in the guide for more information.
• Online details:  with electronic sources, you always use the DOI if you have one.  If not, use a URL if it is relevant.
• If you use a URL, you must include an Accessed date.

Find many more AMA examples and more on the AMA Research Guide.